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There was a moment about four past five in the afternoon last Saturday afternoon, when it seemed like everything was going to happen at Old Trafford. Manchester United, having won its last three games, led the Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0. Jose Mourinho, perhaps, had emerged from the storm.
But then Joao Moutinho equalized. United only fired and found himself eight points behind leader Liverpool. These three victories have begun to be re-examined: fairly comfortable successes at Burnley and Young Boys, but for a United resource club that should not be remarkable; and a daring victory in Watford, ensured by a nice economy of David De Gea, without which United could easily have lost to the Wolves. The resurrection, it became obvious, was greatly exaggerated.
Paul Pogba made indiscreet comments about United's style and tensions within the club have become obvious again. On Tuesday, the news announced that Mourinho had stripped Pogba of the captaincy. That night, United lost on penalties in the Carabao Cup against Derby County, now led by Frank Lampard. If it seemed like an intelligent soccer joke involving one of Mourinho's biggest Loyalists in his days in Chelsea to trigger another crisis, the weekend is even better, as United faces a West Ham side led by Manuel Pellegrini .
The Chilean is an urban man, flamboyant in press conferences, whose anger capacity seems to range from 1 to, well, 1.1. He never knowingly expressed an interesting emotion, but he could not even be so buttoned up for not appreciating the situation. Pellegrini was replaced by Mourinho as manager of Real Madrid, his first season having led to a record points, which was not enough to finish above Barcelona. When it was suggested to Mourinho the following season that there were similarities between the situations he was facing and Pellegrini, he sniffed and replied that when he would leave Madrid he would go to "a big club." ", An answer that seemed disrespectful to both and Malaga, the side he had taken. After that, Mourinho took every opportunity to belittle his predecessor.
Mourinho has the upper hand in the rivalry, if it is possible to imagine that Pellegrini is involved in such a thing, winning seven of his 13 games with three draws. But Pellegrini is undefeated in his last four games, the most recent of which was Manchester City's 3-0 win over Chelsea, who first announced that something was wrong with Mourinho in Stamford. Bridge. With West Ham starting to find a small form, it is not inconceivable that Pellegrini could play a similar role this season.
James Williamson / AMA / Getty Images
But the photo at Old Trafford is far from clear. It is obvious that something is wrong, but it is not. The situation with Pogba seems irreconcilable. His agent, Mino Raiola, said during the summer that Pogba was enthusiastic, Barcelona showing interest. But Pogba remained at United and was named "second captain" (Antonio Valencia is the captain of choice), apparently a ploy to make him take more responsibility.
Pogba has been the captain of United three times this season, the league's first two games and last week's win in the Champions League in Berne, where he scored twice. After the first of those league games, the 2-1 win over Leicester City, he was shy in his post-match comment, claiming he could not say what he meant for fear of a fine. Saturday, this reserve was gone. United insisted that United had to "attack, attack, attack".
Mourinho could not defy his authority and at the pre-match meeting on Tuesday, he demoted Pogba, saying he would never be captain of the club again. While some blame Mourinho for the situation – the Frenchman Didier Deschamps, for example, Pogba is not as "individualistic" as many believe – there are also some of United's fans who remember Sir Alex Ferguson tired of the midfield and his agent waved before selling it in 2012.
On Wednesday, the two men exchanged cold words in training, apparently because Mourinho thought Pogba had posted images of himself laughing at United's defeat at Derby on Instagram. It later appeared that the film was about an hour earlier, when United was in the lead, but the problem of the Wi-Fi stadium, and as any journalist will say, the Old Trafford wifi is among the least reliable of the Premier League. leads to a delay.
Although it is understandable that the future of Mourinho at Old Trafford raises more and more doubts in the boardroom, it seems that this is an area in which he has the support of the board. Certainly the way the club's personalities spoke against Pogba this week, criticizing him for rushing to take an international flight with France after the Burnley match, playing music on the Le team bus Derby's game before the end and the reportage at the Lowry Hotel in a chauffeured Rolls Royce seemed revealing. And with the rules preventing players from playing for more than one club in the Champions League in the same season now abolished, there is no reason for Pogba not to be sold in January.
What it means for him and United over the next few months is uncertain. Two things are clear though. First, the steady worsening of his case record is a new charge against Ferguson's US transfer policy; and second, Mourinho's time at United is as difficult as it has ever been.
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